STORRS — If there has been a stranger ride for a group of UConn seniors, it resides somewhere in the deep recesses of the memory banks. The end of this particular ride will be far more accessible.

It started with an unlikely national title during their freshman seasons. A season of odd turbulence followed, resulting in a Jim Calhoun team being bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round for the first time. The next season contained the ignominy of an NCAA Tournament ban.

"I remember the whole atmosphere being down," Giffey said. "It was the guys that stayed here really became close because we realized that none of us were selfish. We didn't put ourselves in front of the group."

The three will play their final home game tonight when the 19th-ranked Huskies (23-6, 11-5 American Athletic Conference) welcome Rutgers (11-18, 5-11) to Gampel Pavilion. UConn has won six of its last seven games and is assuredly headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

The emotion of the night could get in the way a bit, but nobody would blame the Huskies for that too much. Napier had a chance to bolt for the NBA last year but decided to return and has etched his name as one of the program's great players. Olander started the national title game in 2011 but has become a role player, albeit an important one. Giffey has gone from role player to key contributor.

After that NCAA tourney loss in 2012 to Iowa State in Louisville, Ky., the program appeared in a shambles. Four players who came in with the senior trio — Jeremy Lamb, Roscoe Smith, Michael Bradley and Enosch Wolf — left UConn. Lamb bolted for the NBA, Smith and Bradley transferred and Wolf's scholarship was not renewed after last season.

Napier made a promise to himself to help rebuild the program and a promise to his mother to earn his degree. He's accomplished the former and is on track to accomplish the latter in May. The three are the glue that held this thing together, Napier clearly possessing the strongest bonding principles.

"We needed those guys to stay and they stuck with us," coach Kevin Ollie said. "Those guys won a national championship and two NCAA tournaments, 95 wins in their whole career. Hopefully they can get that century, which would be tremendous. It's just been great, a pleasure to be around them.

"And I came in the same time they came in. I was a freshman myself in the college (coaching) profession. I think all of us grew together."

Ollie is the only UConn coach to win 20 games in each of his first two seasons. He has the highest winning percentage (.729) of any coach who has coached more than 20 games. Napier will finish his career as at least the No. 7 all-time scorer and the No. 3 all-time assist guy. His sendoff tonight promises to be the most emotional one in some time on a senior night.

As a freshman, Napier sported a rat tail at times. He was precocious and brash, drilling a pair of huge free throws in the 2011 national semifinal against Kenutcky. The next year, he tried to take Kemba Walker's role as leader and had little idea how to do it. The result was a splintered team with a ton of talent that did virtually nothing, at least by UConn standards.

Despite all the accolades, Napier's most impressive accomplishment might have been learning from that sophomore season and turning it into something tangibly positive.

"I think I grew the most my sophomore year," Napier said. "Nothing went the right way. Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror and figure out what you could have done better. There were a lot of problems that I had to deal with myself. I felt like I was one of the biggest reasons why we didn't play as well as we should have. ... I'm thankful for it, even though it sounds kind of ironic. It made me look myself in the mirror."

There was a lot of that for these three. Olander is playing at his hometown school and had to overcome a couple of off-court issues last year. Giffey saw his countryman and friend, Wolf, jettisoned unceremoniously. And all three of them had to look at each other and wonder whether it was worth remaining through a postseason ban.

It turned out well for them, three guys who will be remembered for sticking through arguably the most difficult time in the program's last 30 years, if not its existence.

We've been through it all together," Olander said. "We really love what this program is all about. We love this school and people involved in this program. The bond that we have is one that will probably carry on for a lifetime. It's just special to share this night with these guys. It's something that I wouldn't want to do with any other group."

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